Leody de Guzman, 61, is an activist and labor leader who has pushed for policies to secure the rights and welfare of workers since 1984. He ran for senator in 2019 under the tagline "Manggagawa Naman" but failed to secure a seat. He currently sits as chairperson of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, a socialist labor center and federation of militant trade unions.
He is running under the opposition coalition Laban ng Masa on a progressive and worker-centric platform hinged on a complete reform of the country’s political system to foster social development and eventually augment the economy.
De Guzman has vowed to challenge the interests of the rich by increasing taxes for billionaires, decreeing minimum wage, and banning contractualization, among others. He has also said he would halve the size of the national police and military and surrender enforcers and key figures in the current administration’s war on drugs.
The candidate's top priorities if elected to office, tracked against previous promises and accomplishments, if any
- Pro-people, medically-informed and demilitarized pandemic response
- Aid, vaccines, protection for all, including paid leaves and pay for those who get sick or go on quarantine
- Increased wages and benefits for healthcare workers
- Free quality healthcare for all
- Held online rallies and noise barrages during Labor Day 2020 amid the enhanced community quarantine to protest the administration’s lack of ayuda.
- Publicly questioned the presence of former military generals making policy decisions in leadership positions on the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
- Mass public employment program
- Increase to minimum wage to P750 a day
- Ban on contractualization employees
- Provide unemployment benefits to all displaced workers
- Price controls on oil, electricity, internet, water, farm inputs and other basic commodities
Senatorial platform strongly opposing contractualization and higher excise taxes from the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law in 2019
Marched and organized with labor groups and unions to call for better labor conditions for workers.
- Uphold climate justice by demanding reparations from rich countries
- Pursue just transition to a low carbon economy and democratically-owned, renewable and clean energy systems
- Repeal the Mining Act; phase out all fossil-fuel-based power plants; ecologically restore land, forests, and all bodies of water; stop all environmentally-destructive infrastructure projects; promote transport justice, and initiate a program of ecologically sustainable reindustrialization
Creation of sustainable and green jobs to restore and rehabilitate ecological and environmental balance caused by mining and other extractive industries
- Immediate repeal of Anti-Terrorism Act
- Disbanding of Duterte’s National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict
- Resumption of peace talks with communist rebels
- Ending prosecution of media outlets
- Significantly reduce the budget of all security-related and defense agencies relative to the social services budget and rejected vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte’s proposal to make military service mandatory for young Filipinos
- Prosecute past and present public officials for crimes against public good, such as extrajudicial killings, through the local justice system and the International Criminal Court
- Institute direct democracy
- Pursue independent foreign policy
Dismantling of criminal syndicates in government agencies including the armed forces and the national police
- Reorient the economy to meet domestic needs
- Reversal of privatization of public services by refunding and building more and better public schools, hospitals, parks, libraries, day-care centers, evacuation centres and other social assistance centers
- Wealth/billionaires tax on country's richest 250 families
- Repealing value-added tax and the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act in favor of a “more progressive” tax system
- Repeal of R.A. 11203, or the rice tariffication law
- Seizing the P126 billion Marcos ill-gotten wealth to boost the COVID-19 response budget
The candidate's top five accomplishments and contributions for the last 15 years or so
Private Sector
De Guzman has served as chairman of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino since 2018 but has been a ranking member of the socialist labor center since its inception in 1993. The group has long organized and consolidated militant trade unions in companies around the country calling for an overhaul of the country’s politics to a more progressive and egalitarian system.
He ran for senator in 2019 as part of the Osto Diretso slate and for the House of Representatives in 2016 under Sanlakas but failed to win a seat both times.
Actions and/or proceedings pending against or resolved in courts or tribunals involving the candidate, based on publicly available information
Also known as SALN, this document is a declaration of one's personal finances. Philippine Law requires the SALN to be submitted by all public officials and employees to the Ombudsman. Public officials and employees may opt to voluntarily disclose their SALN to the public.
Key details about the candidate's campaign
